Animal Behavior Exam 2

Front 1

What are some ways to study how movement is produced by the nervous system?

Back 1

We can study how injuries to the brain affect movement (think Phineas Gage and Patrick Lawler); we can measure activity of neurons and which neurons light up when specific movements are made

Front 2

How do the studies on macaque control of robotic arms fit with the circuit model of brain function?

Back 2

Studies on macaque control of robotic arms helps us develop better prosthetics; computer algorithm learns patterns in the brain that correlate with specific movements - these patterns can be applied to prosthetics

Front 3

What is the central pattern generator (CPG)?

Back 3

The CPGs are stereotyped and repetitive movements produced by dedicated neural circuits;

Front 4

Outline 5 features of CPGs.

Back 4

The 5 principle movements produced by CPGs are: (1) these are often organized into functional units, (2) motor output is sequenced and intergrated, (3) one CPG can generate multiple movements/behaviors, (4) CPGs are activated by higher centers, (5) motor output can be altered by sensory input

Front 5

Give examples of behaviors that are and are not typical of CPGs.

Back 5

Typical: breathing, swimming, walking, chewing, wings coordinating during flight, trotting, galloping,

Front 6

How do the 'stomach teeth' of some crustaceans illustrate the first principle of CPGs?

Back 6

The stomach teeth of crabs and lobsters rhythmically grind food; these muscles are controlled by a group of motor neurons that sit right on top of the crop - they do not control their muscles

Front 7

Draw a diagram of a swimming eel and how muscles alternate down the body and on either side to generate swimming.

Back 7

Front 8

Diagram the neural circuit underlying the left-right alternation of muscle contraction and relaxation of an eel, being sure to label neurons and muscles, and the connections between them. Do neurons signal each other? Do muscles signal each other?

Back 8

This mechanism occurs because of a mutual inhibition of opposite neuron groups; motor neurons send signals to muscles to contract and at the same time they send signals to the complementary motor neurons preventing it from firing

Front 9

Describe 2 behaviors arising from the CPG controlling leg movements in male blue crab. How does the CPG switch from one behavior to the next?

Back 9

Blue crabs can use different leg movements and posture to either swim or court females; female hormones are thought to activate proctyl, a neuromodulator, which then promotes courtship movements

Front 10

In determining the higher control of walking versus grasping behaviors in praying mantis, describe the experiments that scientists conducted to explore the different roles of the supraesophageal ganglion and the subesophageal ganglion.

Back 10

grasping and locomotion do not occur together; when they cut brain connections, praying mantis' would grasp and walk at the same time; when they cut connections from brain to subesoph. ganglion, there was no behavior

Front 11

The blowfly with an exploding gut is a dramatic example of how stretch receptors influence feeding in the fly - are there any similar phenomena in people?

Back 11

when stretch receptors are cut, the flies eat until their gut explodes because there is no signal telling them that they are full; this might be similar to eating disorders in humans?

Front 12

Exactly what about waves action tell a young turtle how to orient to swim out to sea? How does the turtle know to swim away from land rather than towards land?

Back 12

the sequence of the waves tell the sea turtles whether they are facing the sea or land; they know that they are swimming towards the sea when the waves push them back, down, forward, and then up; they know that they are swimming towards land when the waves push them forward, down, back, and then up

Front 13

What are 2 types of adaptations for speed in the cockroach escape response? How does the sensory neuron-to-giant interneuron connection represent information about wind direction? How do the giant interneurons work together to influence turning behavior?

Back 13

two adaptations for speed: very few connections and interneurons with a giant axon; cockroaches have hairs that are sensitive to the direction of wind and whichever hairs have the strongest reaction to the wind tell which direction the wind is coming from;

Front 14

Describe the roles of sensory input on motor behavior for turtle navigation and the crayfish tailflip - why is sensory input important?

Back 14

Sensory information is important because it tells an organism about its surroundings and allows it to react.

Front 15

In terms of the segmental tail muscles that contract, how does a crayfish flip forwards versus backwards?

Back 15

When a crayfish moves backwards, all off the abdominal segments flex. When a crayfish moves forwards, only the front abdominal segments flex

Front 16

How did researchers test the role of the two types of giant axon in the different types of crayfish escape behavior ? Be sure to include specific experiments and their outcome in your description, as well as the terms 'necessary' and ' sufficient'.

Back 16

They connected a current to the axons to determine how they would effect movement. The giant axon is sufficient for behavior: cause it to fire and tail flip ensues. The giant axon is necessary for behavior: prevent it from firing and tail flip

Front 17

Biological Rhythms

Back 17

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Front 18

Name some physiological parameters that fluctuate in a daily rhythm.

Back 18

Melatonin, core body temperature, triacylglycerol, subjective alertness, performance reaction time

Front 19

Why would animals need to 'anticipate' regular environmental cycles, rather than just respond to them?

Back 19

so that they can take advantage of shorter days and getting to safety before dark; so that mating can be coordinated; use it to predict the environment (weather, food, predators)

Front 20

What are examples of daily, annual, monthly, and tidal rhythms of activity in the natural world?

Back 20

A daily rhythm would be like temperature digestion, or stress hormones; a monthly rhythm includes the ant lions were they collect debris from other nearby insects; an annual rhythm is like migration; tidal rhythm is when you rely on the tides for your livelihood and used it to do work.

Front 21

What are 4 characteristics that many types of biological rhythms have in common?

Back 21

1. sustained rhythm in absence of cue; 2. the cycles are approximate; 3. cycles can be reset by environment; 4. cycles are heritable

Front 22

What is an experiment proving the existence of a daily 'clock' in bees?

Back 22

they offered sugar water at feeding stations at specific times and the bees would remember which stations were open at specific times.

Front 23

What are the definitions of free-running, entrainment, life cycle, and arhythmic?

Back 23

free-running: describes rhythms in the absence of all cues; entrainment: the 'resting' of a rhythm by environmental cue; light cycle: hours dark: house light. dark:dark = constant darkness; arhythmic: showing no rhythm, not even free-running

Front 24

What is phase-shifting? How do you induce phase advances versus phase delays? Diagram a phase plot.

Back 24

by giving just a small light pulse at certain times in the circadian cycle, you can reset, or ENTRAIN, the circadian rhythm; a pulse of light before activity starts will cause a phase advance and a pulse of light after activity ends will cause a phase delay

Front 25

What is the proof that internal clocks are heritable?

Back 25

circadian rhythms can be artificially selected for (drosophila and lab mice); circadian rhythmicity may disappear in isolated species living w/o timing cues for many generations (cave crayfish, naked mole rats)

Front 26

In mammals, where is the circadian clock located? What are 3 types of predictions that confirm this? What observations or experiments support each of these predictions?

Back 26

The main circadian clock seems to be in the suprachiasmatic nucleus; A: it should show a rhythm on its own (scn neurons fire more spikes at some times of the day than others); B: destroying it destroys rhythmicity (when destroyed in a hamster, there is no rhythm shown) C: it carries the rhythm with it (they develop the circadian rhythm of a donor)

Front 27

Where does the entrainment signal in mammals come from? What about the clock and entrainment signal for birds? How about insects?

Back 27

Entrainment signal in mammals comes from the retina and special photoreceptors called W cells that project to the suprachiasmatic nucleus; In birds there are several, the SCN or pineal gland; a site int he brain for insects

Front 28

For monarch butterflies, what is the evidence that antennae serve as circadian clocks? As circadian photoreceptors? What do monarchs use these clocks for?

Back 28

They captured butterflies on their fall migration and then cultured their antennae to look at the expression of genes involved in insect circadian rhythms; they found that multiple circadian proteins cycle over 24 hrs; also found that they're important for navigation and are sensitive to light

Front 29

What is the evidence that some birds and mammals have circannual rhythms?

Back 29

reproduction and hibernation are examples of circannual rhythms; they found that there were fluctuations in reproductive state and testosterone levels depending on the season

Front 30

What are 4 characteristics that circannual rhythms share with circadian rhythms?

Back 30

They share these 4 things: 1) they free run 2) they can be entrained to light cycle 3) photoperiod is used as cue 4) they have a genetic basis

Front 31

Describe 2 experiments in wild rodents that support the idea that circadian rhythms are adaptive - how can they help animals survive?

Back 31

wild rodents use a circadian rhythm to avoid predators. they figure out whether their predators are nocturnal or diurnal and then switch to the opposite

Front 32

Development of Behavior

Front 33

What is a sensitive period?

Back 33

a sensitive period is a brief, well-defined period within which exposure to certain stimuli produce irreversible effects on later behavior

Front 34

What is a way to experimentally test whether a stretch of time in a young animal's life is a sensitive period?

Back 34

you can manipulate a developmental signal at different times and look for a change in later behavior

Front 35

What is imprinting? Briefly define the 3 types in the lecture.

Back 35

imprinting is a special type of learning that occurs during sensitive periods; filial: when young animals bond to parents; sexual: when young animals form an image of an appropriate mate for use when they are adults; maternal: when a mother bonds to her offspring

Front 36

What behaviors do young ducklings show that indicate they have imprinted on their mothers? What types of cues do the young pay attention, and which experiments demonstrate?

Back 36

they imitate the behavior of their mother, it occurs during the sensitive period and can occur with inappropriate stimuli; they pay attention to auditory, visual/social interation, and olfactory cues;

Front 37

What cue(s) do some young mammals use to imprint? What behavior results from this?

Back 37

auditory, visual/social, olfactory,

Front 38

How does a comparison of filial imprinting in altricial versus precocial birds support a hypothesis for the function of imprinting?

Back 38

precocial duckling can move around and feed soon after hatching, so they are more likely to lose their parents (imprinting is more important); altricial songbirds can't move or feed on their own, so the mother brings everything to them, thus imprinting is not as necessary

Front 39

What are 2 behaviors that result from maternal imprinting? In mother sheep, when is the sensitive period for this type of imprinting, and what cues does it rely on?

Back 39

2 kinds of behaviors: 1) maternal responsiveness (caring for young) 2) maternal selectivity (rejecting foreign offspring); the period is hours after birth and it relies on olfactory cues

Front 40

What are ocular dominance columns? How are they responsive to a sensitive period?

Back 40

the area of visual cortex that receives input from a particular eye; they won't develop unless used, so if kept in the dark, they won't ever develop

Front 41

Why do owls need to coordinate their visual and auditory maps of space? What experiment showed that there is a critical period for doing this?

Back 41

they need to so that they can be better hunters

Front 42

What types of manipulations can extend or re-open critical periods in older animals?

Back 42

environmental enrichment and drugs can extend or re-open sensitive periods

Front 43

How does a sensitive period around birth influence sexual behavior in rats?

Back 43

whether behavior is female like or male like in adults id dependent on exposure to hormones perinatally.

Front 44

How is estrogen involved in the organization of female vs male sexual behavior in rats? What experiments using castration of young males, plus the implantation of extra estrogen, DHT, or fadrozole, demonstrate which hormones is necessary for the organization of male sexual behavior?

Back 44

Front 45

How is the hormonal environment of perinatal female rats different from that of males? Which experiments show that the perinatal hormonal environment, independent of genetic sex, has a large influence on adult sexual behavior?

Back 45

Front 46

What is age polyethism in honeybees? How do JH, expression of the amfor gene, and the social and physical environments , influence the behavior of worker bees?

Back 46

As bees grow older, their behavior changes as the amount of JH increases; the increase in JH causes the bees to change jobs; hormonal, genetic, and environmental factors influence these transitions

Front 47

Genes and Behavior

Front 48

Using material from reading and lecture, formulate a description of the relationship between genes and behavior, using as much of your own wording as possible

Back 48

genes influence behavior

Front 49

How does the selection of nesting behavior in mice demonstrate a heritable basis for this behavior? Why did researchers duplicate the selection of each line?

Back 49

the size of nests that mice build is under genetic influence, since it can be selected for; they duplicated the selection for each line so that they could make sure that there wasn't an exception

Front 50

What happens when you crossbreed different groups of blackcap warblers who migrate to different overwintering sites?

Back 50

crossbreeding results in an intermediate migratory direction

Front 51

What multiple types of selective pressures are contributing to the divergence of Spain-overwintering and Britain-overwintering warblers

Back 51

British bird enthusiasts provide winter food rich in seeds and suet; the British birds get back to breeding grounds and pair up earlier than Spanish birds, reinforcing reproductive separation

Front 52

What does crossfostering of different vole species demonstrate about the heritability of pup-care behaviors? Non-parental behaviors?

Back 52

they found that parenting behavior is influenced by experience, but tunneling and food caching were not changed by fostering

Front 53

Describe 3 general types of difference in genes among individuals or species that can lead to differences in behavior

Back 53

different alleles, differential expression of genes, differential localization; multigene effect and pleiotropic effects

Front 54

Rover v sitter is a classic example of how single genes can influence behavior. What is the behavioral difference, and the genetic difference between rover and sitter flies?

Back 54

rover flies move when food is available, but sitters tend to stay put when food is available; alleles code for different isoforms of a kinase, localized in the olfactory system

Front 55

Does the amfor gene contribute to differences in bee foraging behavior in the same way as it contributes to difference in Drosophila foraging behavior? if not, what is the difference?

Back 55

in flies: different alleles of same gene affect locomotion (DNA); in bees: differential expression of same gene affects phototaxis (mRNA)

Front 56

What general principle of how genes influence behavior is illustrated by the genetic basis of paternal behavior in prairie voles vs meadow voles?

Back 56

???

Front 57

Explain what pleiotropic effect is and give a behavioral example.

Back 57

pleiotropic genes influence multiple behaviors

Front 58

Compare pleiotropic gene effects vs multigene traits using the examples of dunce and rutabaga.

Front 59

Describe how the environment can influence gene expression using the example of zebrafish. How could this apply to a real-world environment?

Front 60

What are epigenetic effects? how do they operate in terms of maternal pup care in rats?

Back 60

how environmental factors affect DNA packaging; maternal licking affects the genes

Front 61

What is the evidence for the connection among gene packaging, receptor expression, and behavior? Explain how both the classical technique of cross fostering and modern molecular techniques were used together to understand this behavioral puzzle.

Front 62

How do changes in gene or gene expression in a few animals translate to behavioral adaptions?

Front 63

How has this idea been tested in nest-building mice?

Back 63

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